英语阅读：Pozi scheme

英语自学网

　　Q: Bernard L. Madoff is facing life in prison for operating a vast Ponzi
scheme that began at least 20 years ago and consumed billions of dollars of
other people's money.
        　　What does Ponzi scheme mean?
        　　Ponzi scheme is what is popularly known here as the “pyramid selling”
(which is illegal in China), an investment system that pays early investors
(handsomely) with money paid by later investors, who are often recruited by the
early birds themselves.
        　　The scheme was named after American Charles Ponzi (1882-1949), one of the
first swindlers to profit from the pyramid scheme.